Angie insists she was set up by none other than Judge Buddy Champagne and asks Talba to help her prove, not only that Angie was set up, but that Buddy is dirty. Talba convinces Buddy’s housekeeper to take a leave and gets hired as the replacement. Talba soon learns that the Champagne household is the stereotypical dysfunctional gothic Southern family.

Buddy is a widower with a young trophy fiancée Kristin, his terminally lazy son and his New Age wife, a brooding, misfit teenage daughter and the matron of the family, his mother-in-law. Talba finds a lot of evidence of the judge being dirty, but is having a hard time getting evidence she can use in court. The day after Buddy proposes to his girlfriend, Talba gets enough on him for her newspaper friend to write the first in a series of exposes. The next day Buddy is found shot in a boat, apparently a suicide though the autopsy says otherwise.

Now Kristin hires Talba to investigate Buddy’s Death. Talba, who has developed a good report with the family, begins to investigate. She soon finds plenty of people who hated the judge enough to kill him, including Kristin’s father who paints a psychotic picture of his daughter. Another death in the family makes Talba look a little closer at those nearest and dearest to the judge and she sees just how messed up the family is.

Talba’s relationship with the judge’s daughter Lucy parallels her relationship with her lover’s daughter Raisa, as both girls learn to trust Talba and view her as a friend rather than as an adversary. Talba feels a lot of guilt over the judge’s death and spends a lot of time trying to regain the family’s trust; once Talba likes someone, there is nothing she wouldn’t do for them. Most of the characters Talba encounters are window dressing. Even though the judge’s family is colorful, there’s never a lot of depth.

The point of view shifts awkwardly from third person close to Talba to other times referring to Talba as Ms. Wallis and her poet persona can be confusing in the beginning. Talba’s investigation into the judge’s affairs is more compelling than her investigation of his murder. A sultry Louisiana setting and Talba and Lucy’s poetry add to the overall atmosphere.

--Jennifer Monahan Winberry